Quick and Easy Tortellini Soup

With cheese tortellini, white beans, and greens in a simple yet flavorful broth, this quick and easy tortellini soup makes for a delicious weeknight meal that you can have on the table in no time.

I am kind of weird about soup. I really do enjoy a good bowl of soup when it’s cold out, but I am kind of particular about brothy soups.

I’ll never turn down a bowl of broccoli cheese soup, for example. But a bowl of chicken noodle? Eh. I could take it or leave it. 

The two exceptions to this are if it is an Asian-style soup, such as ramen or pho, or if the soup has dumplings in it.

Don’t ask too many questions here, I don’t have reasonable answers. All I know is that if you put a bowl of this tortellini soup in front of me, I’ll happily eat it. Somehow it falls in the “yes” column of my weird soup rules.

And I’m not mad about it, since this quick and easy tortellini soup can be thrown together in less than 30 minutes for the perfect weeknight dinner.

Why you’ll love this easy tortellini soup

Here’s what we’re working with for this easy tortellini soup: a combination of white beans, veggies, and cheese tortellini in a simple but flavorful tomatoey broth. It’s simple but delicious and will warm you up from the inside out.

And when I say that this is a quick and easy recipe, I mean it.

The only real prep that you’ll need to do is chopping up an onion and mincing some garlic. Everything else is going to come from a can (tomatoes and beans), carton (stock or broth), or bag (fresh kale or spinach).

The soup itself cooks up in about 20 minutes, giving you an all-in time of less than 30 minutes for the entire recipe.

That’s just enough time to bake up a batch of homemade Red Lobster biscuits, sweet potato biscuits, or garlic bread to serve alongside it to round out the meal. 

How to make my quick and easy tortellini soup

This is such a simple recipe, you’ll find yourself making it on regular rotation any time you don’t want to put in a lot of effort for a homemade meal.

Ingredients you’ll need

To make this easy tortellini soup, you’ll need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 large onion (diced)
• 3 cloves minced garlic 
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes (do not drain)
• 2 (15-ounce) cans white/cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
• 2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 pound cheese tortellini (or your favorite flavor)
• 2-3 cups chopped fresh kale or baby spinach
• Salt and pepper to taste

Any time I’m adding canned diced tomatoes to a soup or stew, I like to use petite diced tomatoes. I prefer the smaller pieces of tomato, but you can totally use regular diced tomatoes if that’s all you have.

Similar to making white bean dip, any type of white bean will work great. Great northern beans, cannellini beans, or navy beans are my personal favorites.

Feel free to use chicken stock or vegetable stock depending on if you need this soup to be vegetarian or not.

We love making this soup with cheese tortellini, but you can use any flavor of tortellini that your family prefers! Depending on what brands are available at your grocery store, the packages may range in size.

If you can’t find a 1-pound (16 ounce) package of tortellini, choose one that is close in size. It doesn’t have to be exact!

You can use fresh kale or baby spinach for the greens in this recipe. If you can find a package of baby kale, it won’t require any additional prep before tossing it into the soup.

I also like to pile on some fresh parmesan cheese for serving. After all, who doesn’t love some extra cheese??

Making this soup

To make your tortellini soup, add the olive oil to a large dutch oven (or other heavy-bottomed soup pot) and heat it over medium-high heat.

Add the onion and sauté until translucent and soft. This will take about 5-7 minutes. Toss in the minced garlic and cook for one more minute.

Now add the tomatoes and their juices, the drained and rinsed beans, the chicken or veggie stock, and the herbs. Bring the stock to a boil, then add the tortellini.

Simmer until the tortellini are cooked. Check your package directions to know how long this will take, but it is usually around 3-5 minutes.

Once the tortellini are cooked through, add the kale or spinach and stir to combine, letting the greens wilt. Season with salt and black pepper to taste, then serve up the soup with plenty of freshly grated parmesan cheese. 

Recipe variations

This easy tortellini soup is delicious as is, but you can also change it up based on the ingredients you have on hand or to make it more filling:

• Use Italian-style diced tomatoes or fire-roasted diced tomatoes for extra flavor.
• Swap out the dried parsley, basil, and oregano for a couple teaspoons of Italian seasoning.
• Stir in some shredded rotisserie chicken just before serving for extra protein.
• Add some ground Italian sausage when sautéing the onion. Use mild or hot sausage depending on your family’s preference.
• Add a few pinches of crushed red pepper flakes for some added heat.

Make-ahead and storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The pasta will likely soak up some of the broth, but it will still make for a delicious lunch or easy dinner later on.

If you want to make this easy tortellini soup ahead of time, make the soup as written, but don’t cook the tortellini all the way through. 

Leave the pasta al dente, and let it finish cooking when you reheat the soup on the stove. Wait until you are reheating it to add the kale or spinach.

Store the soup in the refrigerator or freeze it for up to a month.